


Red Light Behavior

by Brambleshadow_of_WindClan



Series: K-9 NCIS [1]
Category: NCIS
Genre: Alternate Universe, Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2011-08-17
Updated: 2011-08-17
Packaged: 2017-10-22 18:08:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 3,334
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/241011
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Brambleshadow_of_WindClan/pseuds/Brambleshadow_of_WindClan
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Team Gibbs as a . . . K-9 unit? Oh, boy, this is going to be interesting.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Allegiances

**Author's Note:**

> Since this is an AU fanfic, here are the allegiances. Plus, it gives you an idea of what Team Gibbs looks like in dog form. And yes, it's modeled after Warriors. Do I look like I care?
> 
> Disclaimer: I do not own Team Gibbs, but I do own them in dog form. I do not own Cloudandis or the members of BloodPack; those rights go to my friend Cloudandis (aka Scorchheart. Funny, eh? My friend being a character in one of my fanfics. :) )

RIVERPACK

LEADER **JETHRO—** black (with silver flecks) male German Shepherd with pale blue eyes

DEPUTY **TONY—** golden brown male German Shepherd with green eyes

HEALER **DUCKY—** gray male German Shepherd  
 **APPRENTICE, PALMER**

AGENTS (males and females without pups)

 **ZIVA—** light brown-and-black female German Shepherd with dark brown eyes, formerly of the Israeli Mossad

 **TIMOTHY—** pale-to-medium brown male German Shepherd, drug-sniffing dog

 **ABBY—** black female German Shepherd, works in the forensic lab at NCIS

APPRENTICES (more than six moons old, in training to become agents)

 **PALMER—** light brown male German Shepherd, apprentice to the healer

STORMPACK

LEADER **JENNY—** russet-colored female German Shepherd with blue eyes

DEPUTY **LEON—** dark brown-and-black male German Shepherd with black eyes

DARKPACK

 **KORT—** gold-and-black male German Shepherd

AIRPACK

 **TOBIAS—** gray-brown male German Shepherd

 **SACKS—** dark brown male German Shepherd with dark brown eyes

BLOODPACK

LEADER **CHROME— **gray-and-white male Alaskan Husky with brown and blue eyes****

 **DEPUTY **SAKI—** black-and-tan female Rottweiler with dark brown eyes**

 **TWILLOW—** female Dalmatian (white with black spots) with black eyes

 **RACKET—** red-and-white male Siberian Husky with blue eyes

DOGS OUTSIDE PACKS

 **CLOUDANDIS** —black female Australian Shepherd/German Shepherd mix with red eyes

 

**GLOSSARY**

Crow-food: rotting food

Fox dung: an insult; stronger offense than mouse-brain

Fresh-kill: recently killed prey

Gatherings: a meeting held in peace every full moon

Greencough: severe chest infection, can be deadly in older dogs and young pups

Greenleaf: summer

Greenleaf Twolegplace: a place where humans visit only for the summer (i.e. campsite, resort, etc.)

Halfbridge: a dock

Horseplace: a stable

Housefolk: a house dog's word for its humans

Lapdog: a house dog

Leaf-bare: winter

Leaf-fall: autumn/fall

Loner: dog that lives peacefully on its own in one place but doesn't defend its territory

Monster: usually refers to human machines such as cars, trucks, or bulldozers

Moon-high: the time of night when the moon is at its highest, often midnight

Mouse-brained: not very smart

Mouse dung: an insult; stronger offense than mouse-brain, but less offensive than fox dung

Newleaf: spring

Nofurs: another word for humans

One moon: one month (half-moon = two weeks, quarter moon = one week)

Rogue: a potentially hostile dog who lives outside the Packs and never spends too long in one place

Sharing tongues: term used to describe grooming

Silverpelt: the Milky Way

Sun-drown-place: the sea to the east (the Atlantic Ocean, or, in some cases, the Pacific)

Sunhigh: noon

Thunderpath: road

Tree-eater: bulldozer

Twoleg nest: a human nest

Twolegplace: a human town

Twolegs: Cloudandis's word for humans

Upwalkers: another word for humans

Whitecough: a mild chest infection


	2. Chapter One

"Tony." A paw prodded him in the side. "Hey, Tony, wake up."

The German Shepherd raised his head, blinking sleep from his eyes, and found himself looking at Jethro, the Pack leader. He scrambled to his paws, shaking the dust out of his golden-brown coat. "What's going on, Boss?"

"Follow me." The big German Shepherd turned and padded away, his midnight black pelt flecked with silver glistening in the sunlight that filtered from the windows into the kennel. Tony sighed and followed, wondering what was up.

Jethro led his deputy over to the kennel entrance. The two other members of the team, Tim and Ziva, were already there.

Ziva, before transferring to the Packs River K-9 Unit, had been an attack dog with the Israeli Mossad. She was beautiful, Tony thought, what with eyes the color of hot fudge, a light brown pelt, and—typical of almost all German Shepherds—a black swatch of fur on her back and sides—almost like a saddle blanket or hunter clip on a horse. Her dark brown eyes flitted over to Tony, and her ears went flat against her head. "Stop drooling over me, would you?" she barked.

Tony snapped his jaws shut. "Sorr—," he started to apologize, before remembering Rule #6: Never apologize. It's a sign of weakness. Instead, he said, "It won't happen again."

"I wouldn't be so sure of that," Ziva sniffed. She pointedly turned her back on the golden-brown shepherd, making sure her tail brushed his neck fur. Tony couldn't help letting out a small whine of need. It broke off when Tim bowled him over, pushing Tony's face into the hard floor.

Tony writhed on the ground, trying vainly to throw the junior agent off of him. Since that failed, he let every muscle in his body go limp. When Tim let out a satisfied growl and loosened his grip, Tony pushed up with a surge of strength and sent his Packmate flying off and landing near Jethro.

The Pack leader stared both dogs down, then cuffed both Tony and Tim around the ear. "Knock it off," he snarled. "I didn't call you over here to have you two fight."

"Why did you call us over here then?" Ziva asked.

Jethro motioned with a flick of his tail for the rest of the team to follow him. With Tony on his heels, Ziva right behind Tony, and Tim taking up the rear, all four members of RiverPack slunk out of the room and outside to the building where their handlers were debriefed. The whole team poked their heads around the corner, watching and listening in.

"We have a missing Marine," Jethro's handler was saying, "who'd a suspect in a kidnapping and murder attempt. I've already told NCIS they'll have our full cooperation."

Outside, Ziva glanced quizzically at Jethro. "NCIS?"

"Naval Criminal Investigative Service," the big black German Shepherd explained. He turned and trotted away, calling. "Gear up," over his shoulder.

Tony exchanged a glance with Tim. "You heard him, Probie," he teased. "Come on, McChewToy."

The pale brown drug-sniffing dog glared at him before going after the Pack leader.

Oh, yeah, Timothy had been a total geek when he'd first been assigned to the Pack. Well, Tony corrected himself, he still is. The canine was all about Abby, the NCIS forensic scientist's dog. Tony couldn't see why: the black shepherd shared her owner's taste in music—a band called Brain Matter—and wore a spiky collar—which wasn't just for decoration.

He shook out his golden-brown fur to clear his thoughts and followed his Packmates, Ziva right on his tail. They made it inside the kennel a few moments before their humans did.

Tony snuck a glance at Ziva while his leash was being clipped on. The light brown-and-black German Shepherd was standing calmly as she was being geared up, her ears pricked at full alert. Then she must have noticed his gaze, since her dark brown eyes narrowed suspiciously and her lip drew back from her teeth in the beginnings of a snarl. It dropped quickly when her handler pulled on her leash and walked her over to the K-9 van. As she passed Tony, her tail flicked over to him, grazing under his nose. He breathed in her scent, savoring every little detail.

The golden brown senior field agent was jolted out of his thoughts by a pressure on his neck. Tony panicked briefly for a heartbeat, then relaxed as he realized it was his human walking him forward. It wasn't long before he was padding at his handler's side and the pressure lifted.

When he reached the van, Tony leaped up without waiting for the command. Of course, Ziva was already there, her tail curled around her paws and her pelt neatly groomed.

She looked at him, her dark brown eyes sparkling with amusement. "Let it go, Tony," she purred.

Tony averted his gaze as their other two Packmates jumped up and landed between them. He hadn't realized how close he was to her, or that he'd been staring.

"Cat got your tongue?" Timothy teased, noticing Tony's uncharacteristic silence.

Tony opened his mouth for a stinging retort, but lost his balance as the van suddenly bounced forward and ended up crashing into Ziva, carrying both of them off their paws and landing on the floor in a tangle of legs and fur.

For a few heartbeats, he lay drinking in her scent. Then she tensed and tried to throw him off, which resulted in them getting more tangled.

"Zi, you're not going to be able to move if you keep this up," Tony informed her. "Here, just stay still."

The female officer did as directed, a slight growl rising in her throat whenever he accidentally hit a tender area. Finally, they were free from each other's paws. Ziva shook herself briskly, he teeth showing when she noticed Tim staring at her. "What's your problem?" she snapped.

Tim's ears went flat against his head, the whites of his eyes flashing as he cowered in fear. "N-n-nothing," he stammered.

Tony grinned. "You're sure about that, are you?"

There was the familiar stab of pain as he was boxed upside the ear.

"Quit it, Tony," Jethro growled.

"Yes, Boss."

~*~*~*~

After what seemed like a moon, the moving floor under their paws stopped. The side door opened; the Pack leaped down and padded to their handlers' side.

Immediately, they were bombarded with smells. There were several strange dogs around here, and the enticing scent of cat, but Tony shook away the thought. They had a job to do, he reminded himself.

He stood still as his human unclipped the leash, leaving him free to roam around. When his owner moved away to join the other humans, Tony bounded over to the rest of RiverPack. "What's going on, Boss?"

Jethro fixed him with pale blue eyes. "Spread out. See if you can find anything that can lead us to that Marne. Tim, I think you should do that," he went on. "You have the best nose."

"Yes, sir."

"Tony, Ziva," the black-and-silver German Shepherd continued, "take witness statements. See if any of the dogs around here saw something."

Ziva nodded. "I'm on it." Without waiting for her partner, she turned and stalked away. Dirt flew into the air as Tony scampered after her. "Wait up!"

The light brown German Shepherd stopped in her tracks and shot an irritated look over her shoulder at Tony. "Try to keep up, won't you?"

"Of course," he replied absently, scanning the area for any danger. There was none as they approached the alley behind the Marine's house.

Tony and Ziva warily padded a few fox-lengths into the alley, ears pricked for the slightest sound. They picked up a strong scent of dog at the same time. Behind them, a voice growled, "What are _you_ doing here?"


	3. Chapter Two

Cloudandis moved from shadow to shadow, her pitch-black fur cloaking her in the building, camouflaging her. She was a young German Shepherd/Aussie mix with red eyes. Cloudandis lived alone on the streets, but she saw four other dogs every now and then: Saki, the Rottweiler; Racket, the Siberian Husky; Twillow, the Dalmatian; and Chrome, the Alaskan Husky. Together they were known as BloodPack, and Cloudandis avoided them as often as she could.

As she rounded the corner, she heard a door on the lower floor just below the stairs opening. The scent of Twolegs and tame dogs hit her nostrils, and out the window she caught sight of two shapes heading for the alley in back.

Cloudandis pelted downstairs and crept out of the house using a secret route. The black Aussie/German Shepherd mix slunk after the two figures moving down the side of the east wing. She heard them idle in conversation, then walked up a tail-length behind them.

"What are you doing here?" she growled tonelessly.

They both jumped and yelped with surprise. The golden-brown German Shepherd's pelt was bristling, while his brown-and-black companion's lips were drawn back in a snarl and she was showing all the stages of aggression.

They have no right to wander around, she thought. Cloudandis noticed that the echoes from their barking were resonating in the nearby walls. The other dogs would be here to attack, she was sure. _Just as that last Twoleg came in . . . just like him, they're unprepared._

A strange man with a weapon had come in a long time ago, then vanished. He had probably been attacked by BloodPack or some hostile Twoleg. Cloudandis quickly shoved such thoughts from her head. "If you're here to wander around, get out. Four other dogs in that building can take you down quite easily." Her tone had not changed, nor the intensity of her glare. She simply stood there, staring. "No warnings come from them," she whispered.

"Whoa, wait, hold up." The golden-brown shepherd lifted a paw. "Let's get back to your original question. I'm Tony, and this is Ziva." He indicated the light brown-and-black female with a flick of his tail. Ziva's aggressive stance relaxed slightly and she gave Cloudandis a courteous nod. "We're with the K-9 Unit."

It was then that the midnight-colored loner noticed the two of them had badges attached to their leather collars and were decked out in Kevlar vests.

"I take it you saw what happened here a few nights ago," Ziva spoke up. "Could you tell us what you saw?"

Cloudandis shrugged. "Might as well." She sat down, wrapping her tail around her paws, and began, "I was on the Thunderpath across from here searching for food—"

She broke off at the sound of enraged barking coming from the other side of the alley, near the Twoleg's abandoned nest. Then a howl sounded, and two other German Shepherds came barreling into the alley, followed by two Huskies, a Rottweiler, and a Dalmatian. Tony and Ziva leaped into the fray, but Cloudandis only stood, watching.

Ziva pounced on Saki, burying her fangs in the Rottie's shoulder. The black-and-tan brute yelped with pain and surprise, turning in a circle in an effort to shake off the attack dog.

It was useless. Somehow, Ziva managed to knock Saki down on the floor, a growl rumbling in her throat. She gave the female Rottweiler a bite to remember her by, then leaped away. Panting, she glanced around.

Jethro was on top of the Dalmatian, Twillow, who was on her back looking up at the RiverPack leader. Ziva, with her sensitive hearing, could hear them from seven fox-lengths away. The nine-lived leader put his muzzle close to Twillow's ear and snarled, "Make one move and I'll bite your throat out." Twillow quaked with terror. Then her lip curled into a sneer as Chrome, the gray-and-white Alaskan Husky, came up behind Jethro and lunged. The Dalmatian rolled to the side, unbalancing the silver-flecked black German Shepherd.

Jethro went down in a heap of fur.

Seeing the RiverPack leader down, Ziva leaped for the BloodPack leader. Chrome staggered under the sudden weight and reared back on his hind legs, letting out a howl of pain as Ziva sank her needle-sharp teeth in his neck fur. Her claws tore bloody gouges in his coat, staining it red. The gray-and-white male dropped back to all fours and twisted his head around, aiming for Ziva's shoulder. His teeth bounced harmlessly off the Kevlar vest she was wearing.

Her chocolate-brown eyes narrowed.

 _This is too easy._ She raised a forepaw, reared back, and swiped a blow across his face, leaving claw marks.

Chrome backed away with a snarl. "BloodPack, retreat!"

Racket, a red-and-white Siberian Husky, tore himself from Tim's grasp and limped after his Packmates, while Twillow slithered away from Jethro and bolted. Saki tore herself from Tony's teeth and claws and streaked ahead of her Pack leader.

Before they vanished around the corner, Racked looked back at the RiverPack dogs. "Next time we'll shred you!" he spat.

Ziva stepped forward, neck fur bristling. "You're sure about that, are you?" she snarled.

Racket let out a wordless growl, his blue eyes blazing with hatred, then turned and bounded after his Packmates.

Once the BloodPack dogs were gone, Ziva glanced around at Tony and Timothy, searching for wounds. Thank SpiritPack, none of them were seriously hurt. The female agent breathed a sigh of relief, silently thanking her warrior ancestors.

"What are you doing here?" Jethro suddenly growled.

Ziva jumped, her tail fluffed up, before she realized the RiverPack leader was talking to Cloudandis. With the black-pelted loner being so quiet and the heat of battle, she'd totally forgotten about their witness. Before Jethro took another pace forward, Ziva leaped in front of Cloudandis, who didn't even bat an eye at the Pack leader's hostility. She assured him, "It's okay. She saw what happened to that Marine. Jethro, this is—"

"Cloudandis," the Aussie/German Shepherd mix supplied, her red eyes narrowing. "You know you just defeated BloodPack? They're the fiercest dogs around this Twolegplace. You're either with Chrome or against him, and dogs who are against him don't last long."

"You survived," Timothy pointed out.

"That's because I'm the smart one around here," Cloudandis shot back.

"Okay, okay," Tony said, stepping forward. In an effort to soothe the rising hostility, he added, "Why don't you finish telling us what you saw before we were interrupted." It wasn't a question.

"Do I have a choice?" Cloudandis had to make sure.

"No," Jethro replied bluntly.

The loner snorted. "Figures."

At the RiverPack leader's icy blue glare, she decided to tell them what she knew. With a sigh, she told the group, "I was on the Thunderpath across from here searching for food—"

"Thunderpath?" Tim interrupted with a glance at his leader.

"A road," Jethro explained.

"Oh." The pale brown shepherd was quiet for a few heartbeats, then he flicked his tail at the raven-colored mutt. "By all means, please continue."

"Thanks for the permission," she replied dryly. Cloudandis shifted her paws before continuing, "I saw that Twoleg you're looking for come out, acting really strange. He was scouting the area, then yowled something—I couldn't tell what. Then a younger female came out, held in front of another Twoleg. They drove away in that direction"—she pointed with her muzzle toward the south end of town—"in a dark-colored monster—what you would call a car, van, truck, whatever."

She paused as the RiverPack dogs exchanged looks. "What?"

Jethro looked at her levelly. "Someone else was here."


	4. Chapter Three

The dogs' conversation was interrupted by their handlers coming around the corner. Tony, Ziva, and Timothy quickly made like they were searching, while Jethro swiftly lunged for Cloudandis's neck, holding the loner down.

"Go along with it," he said through a mouthful of neck fur.

She nodded briefly and started struggling. "Let me go!" she snarled, red eyes flaming.

"Jethro, release!" his human partner commanded, hurrying forward with the black's leash. He clipped it on as the black German Shepherd stepped back from his witness. "What's gotten into you, boy?" Jethro's handler gently scolded him.

The dog didn't reply. Instead, he made a beeline for the Marine's house, dragging his human behind him. Tim, Tony, and Ziva followed with their humans. With a start, the RiverPack leader noticed Ziva was limping; Tony had a bleeding cut on his head; and Tim had a gash in his neck. His wounds would be much worse, Jethro realized. Still, he wouldn't let them interfere with his duty.

Ignoring his torn muscles, Jethro sniffed around the entrance, searching for the smells that would verify Cloudandis's story. There was the scent of the Marine, of course, and another human. Yes, there was the little girl as well, but they were a few days old. Jethro's nose twitched as he detected a thick, salty, underlying tang. Blood. One of the others had been seriously injured.

"Spread out," the black leader ordered his Pack. "There's someone here."

"Yes, Boss," Tim, Tony, and Ziva chorused. Each of them split up and went their separate ways, poking their heads into various rooms.

"Clear!" called Tim from the kitchen.

"Clear!" Tony added from the bathroom.

"Uh, Boss?" came Ziva's voice. "Over here."

The brown-and-black female's teammates pelted over to her side, dragging their humans behind them. They stared when they saw what Ziva had found in the upstairs bedroom.

"I guess we found our accomplice," Tony remarked.

"Ya think?" Jethro said sarcastically as he looked at the bloodied and broken body before him.


End file.
